The tenth week of competition at WEF, sponsored by Horseware Ireland, features the $134,000 Horseware Ireland Grand Prix CSI3* during “Saturday Night Lights” on March 16 at 7:30 p.m. Additionally, the $36,000 CaptiveOne Advisors 1.50m Classic CSI 3* will take center stage on Sunday, March 17, in the International Arena.

On the opening day of the three-star week, Michel Vaillancourt (CAN) designed a two-round course for 53 starters. Coyle, 24, contested the track with only six to compete behind him. He stopped the timers at 27.98 seconds riding Tienna, an 11-year-old Canadian Sport Horse mare owned and bred by Ariel Grange’s Lothlorien Farm based in Cheltenham, Ontario. The time was good enough to bump Eduardo Menezes (BRA) to second aboard H5 Uchingo, owned by H5 Sport Horses, after they held the lead for the majority of the class on a time of 28.37 seconds.

Conor Swail (IRL) took third riding Captain for owner B Gingras Equestrian Ltd. in 28.71 seconds, while Italy’s Lorenzo De Luca ended in fourth in a time of 28.81 seconds on Cheindira, owned by Stephex Stables, Pedro Veniss, and Jean Saerens. Darragh Kenny (IRL) and Billy Dorito rounded out the top five on a time of 29.13 seconds for Vlock Show Stables.

“For me, Tienna has always been special; she’s probably the most talented horse I have ever ridden,” said Coyle. “It usually takes me the whole WEF circuit to get her built up, which may be frustrating to some people but in the end she could win the biggest class in the world so taking the first eight weeks of the year to get her on my side is worth it.”

Coyle posted a very quick jump-off time over a shortened track and used Tienna’s quickness to his advantage, saying, “These classes are always really competitive, but they are ones she’s really good at. She’s really fast and doesn’t spend a lot of time in the air. There’s only six fences in the jump-off with a double so you can’t really miss a stride anywhere – you’ve got to be going from the get go and hope that the horse is good enough to keep everything up. Today, obviously, she was.”

Of his season at WEF, Coyle noted, “This year I’ve had a lot of younger horses move up to the international level, so it’s been a building circuit for me, but I’ve still had some good results. For Tienna, I don’t have any specific plans, but she’s a typical chestnut mare; she’ll tell me where she wants to go and I’ll follow.”

Competition at the 2019 Winter Equestrian Festival continues on Thursday with the $36,000 Equinimity WEF Challenge Cup Round 10 CSI3* in the International Arena and the crowning of the Antares High Performance Hunter champion.

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